Instruct

Everyone signs in at the same address. What you see depends on your account.

An admin sets each instructor's type. A class's type comes from its room.

Open the Notifications tab to choose how Instruct reaches you. For each notification you can pick email, text, both or neither.

Sub-needed texts end with a 3-digit code, for example "Reply YES 482 to take it." Reply YES 482 and, if you're first and eligible, you're assigned straight away and get a confirmation reply. The same rules apply as in the app: room type, time off and no double booking.

Reply STOP at any time to stop texts, and START to turn them back on. Message and data rates may apply.

The Documents tab holds studio SOPs, policies, choreography notes, forms and other files. Documents are grouped by category; use the search box or the category buttons to find one.

View opens PDFs, images and text files in a new browser tab. Download saves any document to your device. Download links only work for a few minutes, so open the document from Instruct each time rather than saving the link.

Press Upload document, give it a title and category, add an optional description, choose the file and press Upload. Leave Email everyone ticked to let the team know by email (each person can turn it off on their Notifications tab); when you replace a file you can choose to announce the new version. Allowed files: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text, CSV, PNG and JPG, up to 50 MB. Everyone signed in to Instruct can then see it.

Use Edit on a document to change its title, category or description, to replace the file with a new version, or to delete it. Replaced and deleted files can be recovered by Chad for 90 days.

The page shows two weeks at a time. Use Later › and ‹ Earlier to move. Today is highlighted in gold, and past days are greyed out and locked.

Each class from the Mariana Tek schedule is listed. Press I can teach this on the classes you could teach. Press it again to undo. Classes that already have an instructor don't show this button: for your own classes you'll see Request a sub, and someone else's class shows Sub needed – take it only when they've asked for a sub.

Days beyond the published schedule, or with nothing scheduled, show Add availability. Choose Available all day, or add one or more time windows (for example 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM), and an optional note for the studio. Save to keep it; Clear day removes it.

The schedule shows about two weeks ahead, so days further out always use time windows. If classes are later scheduled on a day where you entered time windows, your earlier entry stays visible with a Remove button.

Classes you're teaching show ★ You're teaching. That includes classes an admin assigned you in Instruct and classes where Mariana Tek lists you as the instructor. When you're assigned, you get an email with the class, time and room.

If you add time off over a class you're teaching, the class turns red with ⚠ You're teaching this during your time off: request a sub.

The My classes tab lists the classes you're teaching over the next two weeks. Each one shows how many spots are booked, who is coming and the spot each client reserved, sorted by spot number, with their status (Booked, Checked in or No-show). Any waitlist and the number of cancellations are shown too.

Rosters come from Mariana Tek and update about every hour, so a booking made a few minutes ago may not show yet. You only see rosters for classes you teach, and client names are for running your class only. Admins can open any class's roster with the Roster button on the Assignments tab.

Message class sends a short note to everyone booked (for example "Running 5 minutes late, doors open at 9:05"). It goes out through Mariana Tek, by each client's usual text, email or app settings. You can message a class from 24 hours before it starts until it ends, up to 3 messages of 300 characters, and each message shows the studio, class and your first name. Every message is saved on the class so admins can see what was sent.

The Messages tab is the studio's team chat. The number on the tab counts direct messages and @mentions you haven't read.

• Channels are group conversations. Everyone starts in #announcements (only admins post; anyone can reply in a thread), #general, #subs-and-swaps, #reformer and #mat. Use ⌕ to browse and join other public channels, and + to create one: public (anyone can join) or private (only people you add).
• Direct messages: press + next to Direct messages and pick one person, or up to 7 for a group message.
• Writing: Enter sends, Shift+Enter starts a new line. Type @ and a name to mention someone; they get a notification. Use 📎 to attach photos, videos or files (up to 5 per message).
• On a message (hover on a computer, or use the icons on a phone): ☺ react with an emoji, ↩ reply in a thread, ✎ edit or 🗑 delete your own message. Admins can remove any message.
• Settings on a conversation: see members, add people, choose notifications for just that conversation, or leave. The person who created a channel (or an admin) can rename or archive it.

Notifications: on the Notifications tab, press Turn on notifications on each phone or computer you use, and choose what you want to hear about (by default: direct messages, @mentions, announcements and replies to threads you're in). You won't get a notification for a conversation you have open on screen. iPhone and iPad: open Instruct in Safari, tap Share → Add to Home Screen, open Instruct from the Home Screen icon, then turn notifications on. Android phones and computers can turn them on straight from the browser (installing to the home screen is optional).

The Available hours tab is a calendar where you tick the one-hour blocks you're free to teach, from 5 AM to 8 PM. Switch between Month, Week and Day, and use ‹ › and Today to move around. Changes save as you tick.

• Day: tick single hours, All morning (5 AM–12 PM), All afternoon (12–5 PM), All evening (5–8 PM) or Entire day.
• Week: a grid of every hour of the week. The checkboxes on the Morning / Afternoon / Evening rows and under each day (Day) select whole blocks; the checkbox by an hour selects it for the whole week. On a phone, pick a day at the top.
• Month: each day shows the hours you've ticked; tick Day for the whole day, or tap the day to choose hours.
• Copy this week to the next… (Week view) repeats a week's hours for 1–12 weeks. Hours already entered in those weeks are replaced, and you can still change any day afterwards.

You can enter hours up to three months ahead. Past days and hours during your time off are greyed out. This is in addition to ticking specific classes on My availability; the studio sees both.

Admins: on Assignments, each class shows Available by hours: instructors who ticked every hour the class runs (a 9:30–10:20 class needs both the 9 AM and 10 AM hours). They're listed under "Available for this class" in the instructor picker. The Coverage tab shows, for each hour of the week, how many instructors are free; tap a number to see who.

The All classes tab lists every class a week at a time (use Earlier and Later), with who is teaching and how full it is. Filter by Mat or Reformer. Admins can open Who's going on any class to see each client and their spot; instructors see names only for the classes they teach.

The Class plans tab has the studio's class plans: each class's exercises in order (for example Warm-up, Main, Cool-down), how long each one runs, the springs and setup, cues, modifications, and photos or videos. When a plan is linked to a class you teach, My classes shows an Open plan button on that class.

Teach mode fills the screen with one exercise at a time and a countdown. Press Start; when time is up it chimes and moves on (turn off automatic moving if you'd rather tap Next). The next exercise and its springs are shown underneath so you can cue the change. On a computer, the space bar pauses and the arrow keys move back and forward. The screen stays on while teach mode is open.

Admins: build plans on Class builder. First add exercises to the Exercise library (name, Mat/Reformer, default time, springs, cues, modifications, photos and videos). Exercise types group exercises by style or system (for example Joseph Pilates Classical, Contemporary, or one you add such as Contemporary – Peak Pilates); an exercise can have several types, set with the checkboxes on the exercise, and admins manage the list with the Exercise types button. Filter the library by type, and in a class plan use the Type buttons above the sections to choose which exercises the "Add an exercise" lists show; a plan can mix types. To get started quickly, press Add standard exercises to load about 130 classical and contemporary mat, reformer and jump-board exercises (each tagged with its type) with suggested times, cues and spring settings for Balanced Body reformers (red = heavy, green = medium, blue = light, yellow = extra light); edit or delete any of them to match how you teach. Each exercise can also have a Demo link to a video elsewhere (YouTube, Pilates Anytime, Instagram), shown to instructors as Watch demo. Then create a class plan: pick the room and length, optionally link it to the Mariana Tek class name, add exercises to each section, set each time (m:ss) and reorder with the arrows (or drag on a computer). The bar shows whether the plan fits the class length. Only Published plans are shown to instructors; Duplicate is the quickest way to make a variation.

The Spotlight tab is a short questionnaire the studio uses to introduce you to clients: the basics, your expertise and teaching style, what to expect in your class, a round of "this or that", and fun facts. Short answers are perfect, and silly ones are encouraged.

Answers save as you type. Add a few photos or short videos, then press Submit to the studio; the admins are emailed. You can keep editing and send updates later, and Copy my answers gives you the text.

Admins see everyone's spotlight on the Spotlights tab, can copy the post text, download photos and videos, and mark a spotlight as published.

Open requests appear in the Open sub requests card at the top of My availability, and on the class itself as Sub needed – take it. Press I'll take it and confirm.

The first instructor to take it gets the class. You're assigned right away and emailed. The instructor who asked is told you're covering, and admins get a swap notice. If someone else got there first, you'll see "Someone else just took this class".

Use the Time off tab to block out times you can't teach. You won't be offered for assignments or sub requests during that time.

Each entry is one continuous block in studio time (Central). "Oct 5, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM" blocks a morning. "Fri 3:00 PM – Mon 12:00 PM" blocks the whole stretch. A multi-day entry with times is not a daily window: for the same hours on several days, add one entry per day. Remove entries from the list under the form.

Every account appears here. New sign-ups show Pending.

Newly approved people pick up access when they press Check again or sign in again. To make someone an admin, ask Chad; admin access is granted in AWS rather than in the app.

Two weeks of the schedule, day by day. Each class shows its room, the Mariana Tek instructor, who has marked themselves Available, the current Instruct assignment, and any sub request. Each day also lists who is on Time off and any availability given for days without classes.

A class turns red when the person teaching it has time off at that time or is double booked. A banner at the top counts upcoming conflicts in the range.

Reassign picks someone else; the replaced instructor is emailed too. Unassign emails the instructor but does not change Mariana Tek, so update the class there yourself.

The dropdown only shows people who can take the class. Notes under it explain who's missing: on time off, teaching another class then, or not linked to Mariana Tek.

Use it to balance classes between instructors. Choose From and To dates (up to 62 days), or a shortcut: Next 2 weeks, This month, Last 30 days, Last 2 weeks.

Each instructor gets a row with total classes, Mat and Reformer counts, teaching hours, classes picked up via sub requests, and their share of all classes. Instructors with no classes are included and shaded. Mariana Tek instructors without an Instruct account are labelled. Unassigned classes are counted at the bottom. Download CSV saves the table for a spreadsheet.

A class counts for its Instruct assignee, or, if it has none, its Mariana Tek instructor. Cancelled classes aren't counted.

The same checks apply whether an admin assigns a class or an instructor takes a sub request.

Emails come from Instruct <no-reply@pilatesretreat.com>. Replies go to chad@pilatesretreat.com.